Slogging Toward Completion
By Fr. Mike Johnson, OFM
I opened my e-mail to review the daily report on the construction of our Victory Housing project for low income seniors. Up toward the top is the days lost to rain — 18. Some days I look out on that big expanse of brown and it looks like a muddy battlefield. One day I decided to go in and nose around to see for myself what was going on. I stepped inside the gate and my foot disappeared into the bog. Disengaging to a giant sucking sound, I decided to be content with the daily report and my aerial observations from the upper parking lot.
For the longest time it seemed as if there was no progress — that the construction was just “slogging along.” Mud got pushed here and there. The daily reports would tell me that 30 cubic yards of cement was poured most days, but I for the life of me couldn’t see much progress. Read more…
The Blessing of Friends
By Fr. John Anglin, OFM
The following reflection on Franciscan life and the importance of friendships with lay people was posted on April 29 on Fr. John’s blog, The Wandering Friar.
I thought that I would take a different turn in my blog posting and give you another glimpse into my life. As a Franciscan Friar, community life is vitally important to me. As important as it is, it is also important to have friends outside of the community, friends who are not priests and religious. In my case, I want friends who, while respecting the fact that I am a friar, are also people who can be real with me and keep me grounded. I have been blessed with such friends throughout the course of my life. Read more…
Washington Theological Union Graduation Today
Brothers Dan Horan, OFM, and Steve DeWitt, OFM, graduated from Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C., on May 4. Below, Dan shares his thoughts on this special occasion.
Today I will graduate (again) from the Washington Theological Union. Two years ago, I completed an M.A. in Systematic Theology from the WTU and then taught for a year at Siena College during what we friars refer to as our ‘internship year,’ or what some communities call their apostolic year. I returned to Washington, D.C., last fall to complete my coursework for the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree that I had been concurrently completing while finishing my M.A. these last few years. Read more…
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The End As We Know It
By Casey Cole
It only feels like it is!
After nearly nine months of attending workshops, meeting friars, ministering, praying, reflecting, and so on and so forth, the postulancy year is just about over… Well, with the exception of the final three months we have yet to complete.
With all the goodbyes we’ve said over the past few days, and the fact that our bodies are naturally attuned to the academic calendar, we’ve all allowed ourselves to believe that we were approaching the end by completely forgetting about the final three months. This minor lapse in memory aside, the fact of the matter is that the postulant year will come to an “end as we know it” next Saturday. Read more…
My Vocation Story
By Stephen DeWitt, OFM
Br. Steve speaks at a rally for the rights of immigrants.
I first got a glimpse of what it means to be Franciscan through my parents who have been members of the Secular Franciscan Order for almost 30 years. From them I learned who St. Francis was and began to know and love the ideals by which he lived his life.
During my high school years, my family and I became parishioners of Sts. Rita and Patrick Parish in Buffalo where I first came to know the friars. During this time, I began to consider a vocation to religious life. It wasn’t until I attended St. Bonaventure University (SBU), however, that I began to seriously explore my interest in friar life. Read more…
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Below is the 15th in a series of essays by Holy Name Province’s partners-in-ministry. It appeared in the April 25 issue of HNP Today, the Province’s biweekly e-newsletter.
In the essay, Robert Hazlett, long-time director of a community center founded by St. Francis of Assisi Parish, describes the style and the services of Franciscan friars for which he is especially grateful. This past weekend, the first of several events commemorating the 40th anniversary of the St. Francis Community Center was held.
At a time when there is so much focus in and on the Church regarding scandals and outrageous behavior by religious, the world often overlooks those consecrated men who go about their daily lives attempting to fulfill the promises they made to God, themselves, and to us. These men are not saints; they are humans like the rest of us, but by their modeling of faith, constancy, responsibility, and diligence, they teach, provide comfort, solace, and support, based in reality, to thousands of us throughout their lives. Read more…
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A Life to Share
By Casey Cole
Casey (in blue shirt, second from right) and his fellow postulants (from left to right) Ramon Razon, Sergio Ferrisi, Dennis Bennett and Edgardo Jara Araya, after their welcoming ceremony at St. Paul Friary in Wilmington, Del., on Aug. 25, 2011.
Celibacy can be a bit of a deal breaker. Ask any young Catholic man or woman, active in their faith, why they are not considering some form of consecrated life, and I can almost guarantee that celibacy is one of the reasons. “I really want to get married,” you might hear. From my own experience, this was the largest hurtle to jump.
But despite what many may think, including even those going through the discernment process, I don’t believe that the problem is abstinence from sex (at least not entirely). Believe it or not, there are still many young people in this world who have not discarded chastity for the loose sexuality embraced by popular culture. (It’s not what you hear on t.v. or see in the movies, but it’s still out there, trust me!) And yet, of those who have held on to or readopted this unpopular virtue, there is an even smaller minority of people wishing to do so in the form of consecrated life. Why is this? Read more…
Climate Change and the Catholic-Franciscan Tradition
Earth Day was Sunday, April 22. In honor of this occasion, the following is a reflection on global warming and its consequences by Br. Stephen DeWitt, OFM, from his blog, “Thoughts From Chaos: A Franciscan Commentary on Social Justice.”
One of the featured articles in the March 23, 2012, issue of Commonweal magazine is Richard Miller’s piece on climate change, “Global Suicide Pact: Why Don’t we take Climate Change Seriously?” Miller’s piece helpfully summarized the overwhelming scientific evidence that the Earth is getting warmer, that this is directly caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and that this will lead to unpredictable environmental phenomena unless drastic action is taken immediately. He also explores the question of why people in the U.S. ignore what is the most important issue of our time, one that is already having measurable effects on weather here in the U.S. and around the world.
As a complement to this piece, I would like to offer a few words as to why we should care about this issue from a Franciscan and Catholic theological perspective. Read more…
A Day in the Life of a Friar: Life in the “Hood” (Part 2)
The following is a continuation of a reflection entitled, “A Day in the Life of a Friar: Life in the ‘Hood,’” by Br. Fred Dilger, OFM. Click here to read Part 1.
Evening Tradition: Service and Fraternity
Fr. Mike Duffy, OFM, director of St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia, greets a guest arriving for a meal.
My main ministry is serving our guests, which really means being there for them in whatever ways they need me. Sometimes it’s filling out confusing paperwork or helping them move into a new and better home. Whatever the task, my reason for being here is to be with them — to let them know that they are not alone and that they are of worth and loved. And, sometimes all that takes is to be present in their lives and listen. The other half of my ministry is with our volunteers — helping them to see in a new way how to love and praise God through the poor. Read more…
A Day in the Life of a Friar: Life in the “Hood” (Part 1)
The following is Part 1 of a reflection entitled, “A Day in the Life of a Friar: Life in the ‘Hood,’” by Br. Fred Dilger, OFM.
My day begins early. As one of six friars assigned to Philadelphia’s St. Francis Inn, I am the guy who turns on the lights, starts up the coffee and gets the mop water ready. Living so close to the Inn makes commuting easy. After a quick walk across the street, I am there.
Br. Fred visits with guest of St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia.
The Inn is a soup kitchen and hospitality center located in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, an area that suffers from severe poverty. Add to that the crime and drugs that accompany such desperation, and simply crossing the street is not always so simple. It is a bleak landscape, yet our time here is filled with laughter, hard work and the love that comes from a life lived in prayer and service.
St. Francis Inn was founded in 1979 by a few Holy Name Province friars who, while exploring Philadelphia for prospective parish work, had the courage to cross the street to a side of the city that was in need of love and care. They settled in and, with the help and dedication of a community made up of lay women and religious sisters, created a small piece of love and calm in a world of violence and chaos. Read more…
